Gas engine



(No Mdel'.) sheets-sheer, 1. I'. W. C. COCK.

GAS ENGINE.

No. 544,21 Patented Aug. 6, 1895.

H A CF/\ K E- RA H i /`l\\l UNITED STATES lPATENT OFFICE.

FREDERIC WILLIAM cAswELL COOK, OF ERITH, AssIcNoR To JOSEPH DAY, OFRATILENGLAND.

GAS-ENGINE.

` SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 544,210, dated-August6, 1 895. Application filed March 10, 1894. Serial No. 503,189, (Nomodali) Patented in England October 15, 1892, No. 18,513.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERIC WILLIAM CASWELL COCK, a subject of theQueen of Great Britain, residing at Erith, in the county of Kent,England, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gas-Engines, (forwhich I have obtained a patent in Great Brit'- ain, No.18,513, bearingdate October 15, 1892,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to that class of gas-engine in which thecrank works in a closed chamber or casing (the explosive mixture beingslightly compressed in' this chamber) and in which an impulse isobtained at each revolution, or an engine in `which the piston duringits forward stroke compresses the charge within the cylinder at theforward end corresponding to the aforesaid closed chamber or casing. Inmy improved engine the inlet portor ports is or are placed in thecylinder and in such a position and.made of such a form that it or Itheyshall be covered- Y by the piston throughout the entire revolution ofthe crank-shaft, except for an extremely brief period when the piston isclose to the end of its return stroke. By this arrangement the pistonitself forms the covering-valve for this inlet-port or these inletportsand defines the period and duration of the admission, thus insuring thata more uniform charge shall be admitted and that the volume shall bemore positively determined.

than was possible by the provisions made for that purpose in thebefore-mentioned specification.

In order that this invention may be more readily understood, certaindrawings illustrative thereof are appended hereto, in whichlFigure 1 isa sectional elevation with the piston or plunger at the top Aof itsstroke, assuming the engine vto be vertical; and Fig. 2 is an endelevation, partly in section, with the piston at the bottom of itsstroke.

In the drawings, the admission of gas and air is shown as through twoseparate ports, the air being admitted by the port F, while the gas isadmitted by the port G. These ports, it will be seen, are ofconsiderable width, but of little depth, so that the duration of theiropening will be brief, as they will be closed except when the piston isat or near the extreme of its return stroke. The Iiow ofthe gas and [or]air or of the explosive mixture may be controlled by any suitabledevice.

In the case of a horizontal engine the gas and [or] air or the explosivemixture pass or passes into that end of the cylinder which correspondstothe chamber E of the example shown in the appended drawings of thisapplication.

The following is a description of the mode of working this invention:Assuming the piston A to be at the top, as shown in Fig. 1, it will beseen that the air and gas ports are uncovered, and are now in freecommunication with the chamber E, in which, at this time, apartiallyvacuous condition exists, and the air and gas rush in tosatisfy this vacuous condition. At this moment, also, the explosivemixture is in a compressed state above the piston and is driven into theigniting-tube M, shown as placed in the top cover of the cylinder, whichignites it in the usual manner, producing the downward or power stroke.Almost immediately after the commencement of this downward stroke thegas and air ports are closed by the descent of the piston, which thenbegins to slightly compress the gas and air mixture,which has beendrawn'into the chamberE below it. By the time that the piston has completed its downward stroke, as shown in Fig. 2, it has uncovered theoutlet-port N, thus allowing the products of combustion to escape, andit has also uncovered the upper mouth Q o f the passage L forming thecommunication between the chamber E and the upper side of the piston.The products of combustion have, as regards the bulk of them, escapedthrough the exhaust by reason of their pressure above that of theexternal atmosphere, and as soon as this escape has lowered thatpressure to the condition prevailing in the chamber lE the mixturepasses up the passage LX into the upper part of the cylinder, coming incontact with the shield or de- Ii'ector O, which is carried on the topof the piston. This shield or deiector prevents the passage of themixture across the top of the piston and out by the outlet-port, andcompels it to rise to the top of the cylinder, passing away from theexhaust-port, thus ,enabling it to sweep round and chase before it IOOthe small portion of the products of combustion remaining in thecylinder. By this time the piston has so far advanced in its upwardstroke as to cover the month of the exhaust Q of the passage LX. Duringthe ascent of the piston, it will be seen that the before-men tionedpartially-vacuous condition in the chamber E below it is produced. Thecylinderis shown water-jacketed in the usual wellknown manner.

An inverted vertical eng-ine only has been shown in the drawings, andthe mode of working has been described in reference thereto; but it willrbe obvious that the engine may be vertical with the crank-shaft aboveor may be placed horizontally or at any intermediate angle.

Propositions have been put forward for making gas-engines wherein theports have been opened and closed by the movement of the piston itself,(although I am not aware that any of them have come into commercialuse.) I do not therefore claim the construction of such gasenginesgenerally; but

WhatI do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

l. In a gas engine, the combination of a cylinder and a piston therein,the cylinder being divided by the piston into a combustion chamber and acompression chamber, and a passage connecting the two chambers, the saidpassage being opened and closed by the piston, with air and gas inletports opening into the compression chamber, the said ports being coveredand uncovered by the piston itself, substantially as set forth.

2. In a gas engine, the combination of a cylinder, a compression chamberat one end thereof, a piston adapted to reciprocate within the cylinderand to compress the explosive mixture in the compression chamber duringits downward or outward stroke, a port or passage leading from thecompression chamber into the cylinder, its lower end being adapted toremain constantly open and its opposite end adapted to be closed by thepiston from near the beginning of its inward stroke until said pistonhas nearly reached the limit of its outward stroke and to be opened whenthe piston is completing its outward stroke, air and gas inlet portsleading into the cylinder and adapted to be closed by the piston fromnear the beginning of its inward stroke until near the completion of itsreturn or outward stroke, and an exhaust port communicating with thecylinder and adapted to be closedv by the piston from near the beginningof its inward stroke until near the end of its return 0r outward strokeand to be opened while said piston is terminating its outward stroke andduring a portion of its inward stroke, all substantially as described,for the purpose specified.

FREDERIC WILLIAM CASWELL COCK.

VVtnesses:

C. A. JENSEN, T. F. BARNES.

